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The fair criticisms of using a mortgage broker are these. Some charge a fee, and mine is £350. Not every broker searches the whole market, because some work from a panel of lenders and some are tied to one. A small number of mortgage products are only sold direct by the lender. A broker is an extra person between you and the lender, which adds a step. And the quality of brokers varies widely, which the word broker on the door does not tell you.
None of those are reasons to avoid a broker. They are reasons to ask a few questions before you pick one.
Why does a broker charge a fee at all?
Because the procuration fee lenders pay on completion does not cover the hours in a case that is declined, delayed or abandoned. I charge £350, payable only once your mortgage offer has been issued, and nothing before that. Other brokers charge on application, charge a percentage of the loan, or charge nothing and rely on the lender’s fee alone. All are legitimate. What is not acceptable is a fee you were not told about in writing before you agreed to anything, which is why my fees are on the website.
Does every broker search the whole market?
No. A whole of market broker can place a case with any lender that accepts business from intermediaries. A panel broker works from a shorter list, sometimes a long one and sometimes six lenders. A tied broker, often sitting inside an estate agent or a bank, recommends one lender’s products only. Each is legal and each has to tell you which they are. Ask, and ask what the answer means in numbers.
A panel or tied broker is legal but cannot place your case with lenders outside their list
Every broker receives a procuration fee from the lender on completion, whether or not they charge you
Check any broker on the FCA register and ask in writing how they are paid before advice
What are the practical downsides?
The fee is the obvious one. On a £200,000 mortgage a £350 fee is 0.175% of the loan, paid once. Against that, a £999 product fee added to the loan and paid over 25 years costs considerably more than £999, and comparing products with and without fees is a large part of what a broker’s fee buys. Some brokers charge 1% of the loan, which on the same mortgage would be £2,000, so the range across the industry is wide and the number matters.
Direct-only products are real. A few lenders sell some or all of their range only through their own branches or website, and a broker cannot place you with them. A good broker will tell you when a direct product looks competitive against what they can offer. A poor one will not mention it.
The extra step is real too. Your documents go to the broker, who checks them, then to the lender. On a well-run case that check is why the lender has no queries and the offer comes quickly. On a badly run case it is a week of your paperwork sitting in someone’s inbox. Most offers on my cases in 2026 have come through in under two weeks, though timescales vary, and the difference is almost always in how the case was packaged before submission.
Quality varies more than most people realise. The minimum to advise on mortgages is a qualification such as CeMAP and authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority, either directly or as an appointed representative of a network. Beyond that there is no grading. A broker who places two cases a month and one who places twenty both call themselves a mortgage adviser.
There is also a conflict of interest to be aware of. A broker is paid by the lender on completion, so the incentive is to get a mortgage completed. That is mostly aligned with what you want. It is less aligned when the honest advice is to wait six months, pay down a card balance or stay with your current lender on a product transfer, which pays the broker little or nothing. A product transfer is always my first check on a remortgage, and it is the case where a broker earns least, which makes it a reasonable test of whoever you are speaking to.
How do you check a broker before using them?
Search the Financial Services Register on the FCA website for the individual and the firm. HTG Mortgages Limited’s reference is 1017945 and it is an appointed representative of Switch Financial Network, which you will find on the register and on my about page. If a broker is not on the register, or cannot name their principal firm, stop there.
Ask what whole of market means to them. The honest answer names the lenders they can access and admits which they cannot. If the answer is vague, or the panel is a list of logos on a wall, that tells you something.
Ask how they are paid, in writing. The fee, when it is due, whether it is refundable, and whether they receive a procuration fee from the lender as well. Every regulated broker has to give you a disclosure document setting this out before advice, and if you have not seen one, ask for it.
Ask what happens if the first lender declines. A broker who has a second and third lender in mind before the first application goes in is doing the job. One who has not thought about it will be learning on your case.
Ask whether they will tell you if going direct or staying put is the better answer. Then watch whether they do.
Ask who does the work. In a larger firm the person you meet may not be the person who handles the case, and the administrator chasing your lender may have twenty other files that week. In a one-person firm you get the same person throughout, with the trade-off that there is no cover if they are ill.
Speak to an expert
If you want to test me against this list, ask me the questions above by email and I will answer each one in writing, including what I cannot access and how I am paid.
When is a broker not the right route?
If you are renewing with your existing lender and the product transfer is competitive, which it often is, you do not need a broker to press the button. A product transfer usually needs no new affordability assessment and often no broker fee. I check it first on every remortgage because it is often the answer, and a broker who does not check it is not looking after you.
If you have found a direct-only product that fits your criteria, the only value a broker adds is a second opinion on whether something better exists elsewhere, and that is worth a phone call rather than a fee.
If your case is entirely straightforward and you enjoy the research, the honest position is that you may end up with the same product either way. The difference is the hours and the backstop if the lender says no. The other questions people ask me before deciding are on my mortgage FAQs page.
Where a broker is worth it is where the outcome differs depending on which lender sees the case: self-employed income, a recent job change, adverse credit, a buy to let, or a residential mortgage that fails affordability at one lender and passes at another. Whether that is you depends on your situation, and it is a fair thing to ask any broker before you agree to anything, including me.
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